Author: News Room

For years, journalists have written about the social media posts of government employees to help reveal the positions, motivations and actions of public officials.But when a journalist recently trained that same lens on Elon Musk’s new government efficiency program, the billionaire suggested that the reporting might be illegal, joining other powerful figures connected to the Trump administration who have made similar claims in recent weeks.The offense, they argue, is doxxing: publishing private information about someone with malicious intent. The term refers to a revenge tactic, originally used by hackers, to bully, harass or intimidate people online, and can incite third…

Karen Huebner did not want to raise the price of omelets.Even as she was paying more for eggs week after week, she held prices steady on over-easy dishes and breakfast burritos and other customer favorites at the Hot Grillz Diner, the small, restaurant her family owns in Walton Hills, Ohio, about 15 miles southeast of Cleveland.But this week, the cost of her order of eggs jumped to nearly $1,000, up from $300 just a few weeks ago. The moment had arrived.“I said I wasn’t going to do it, but this is crushing me,” Ms. Huebner said. “My loyal customers would…

Stocks on Wall Street slumped at the start of trading on Wednesday, dragged lower by data that showed consumer prices rose more than expected in January, leaving the Federal Reserve little cause to lower interest rates again soon.The S&P 500 fell roughly 1 percent as trading got underway. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is chock-full of tech stocks that have come under pressure recently from rising global competition to develop the chips that will power the development of artificial intelligence, also fell around 1 percent.Fresh inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed that prices rose 3…

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is widely known for amassing his fortune through Tesla, his electric car company, and SpaceX, the rocket ship company he founded.But he started his career trying to disrupt consumer finance as a co-founder of a digital financial services company that later became PayPal. Now, he’s working to transform X.com, his social media platform, into a virtual wallet where people can send money to each other.These types of digital payment platforms, which other tech companies like Apple and Meta also run, have come under intense scrutiny by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.But that scrutiny is…

Republicans in Congress have responded to President Trump’s unilateral moves to freeze federal spending, dismantle programs and fire civil servants with a collective shrug, staying mostly silent and even praising him as he circumvents the legislative branch.But in recent days, as his slash-and-burn campaign to remake the government has begun to affect their states and districts, some Republicans have tried to push back in subtle ways. They have sought carve outs and special consideration for agriculture programs, scientific research and more, even as they cheered on Mr. Trump’s overall approach.Their swift and quiet moves to protect their own pieces of…

U.S. inflation rose to 3 percent in January, strengthening the case for the Federal Reserve to extend a pause on interest rate cuts.The Consumer Price Index jumped more than expected, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Wednesday, rising 0.5 percent from December in what was the fastest monthly increase since August 2023. Last month, the annual pace was 2.9 percent.“Core” C.P.I., which more closely reflects underlying inflation by removing volatile food and energy prices, also showed little improvement. It rose 0.4 percent from December or 3.3 percent on a year-over-year basis, both higher than economists expected. The…

Canned tuna sold at grocery stores in 26 states and in Washington, D.C., was recalled because of botulism risks, the Food and Drug Administration and Tri-Union Seafoods said on Friday.The F.D.A. said that Tri-Union Seafoods had voluntarily recalled the tuna “out of an abundance of caution” after being notified of potential issues with the product seal. The “easy open” pull tab on some products, including those sold at Trader Joe’s and Costco, was defective, meaning that the tuna could have been contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.Here’s what to know.Which brands are affected and where?Here’s…

We’ve got some more thoughts on Elon Musk’s $97 billion hostile bid for Sam Altman’s OpenAI, which, we’re told, still hasn’t been delivered to anyone at OpenAI.Assuming an offer does show up, from a legal standpoint it’s actually dead on arrival. That’s because the board of OpenAI has no legal fiduciary duty to maximize investor returns in the for-profit subsidiary. The only duty the board has is to the charter of the organization, which includes in its mission: “to avoid enabling uses of A.I. or A.G.I. that harm humanity or unduly concentrate power.” It can decide whether an acquirer of…

President Trump promised voters that, if elected, he would enact policies that would bring prices down on “Day 1” in office.But three weeks into his term, Mr. Trump and White House officials have become more measured in how they discuss their efforts to tame inflation. They have begun downplaying the likelihood that consumer costs like groceries will decline anytime soon, reflecting the limited power that presidents have to control prices. Those are largely determined by global economic forces.The shifting tone could allow Mr. Trump to reset expectations about how fast prices will come down as he pursues policies like tariffs…

Fred Savage, the actor best known for his childhood role in the television comedy “The Wonder Years,” has taken on a new part in real life: watch collector and entrepreneur.In the past six months or so, he attended Geneva Watch Days, WatchTime New York and the Dec. 6 Important Watches auction at Sotheby’s New York. He also is a member of Classic Watch Club, a collectors’ group in Manhattan, and owns about 50 watches.“Watch collecting started as a hobby, because I was really interested in these mechanical objects that still worked and looked so great a hundred years after they…